Intermittent fluid jet apparatus



Unite States Patet inventor Robert B. Adams Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania Appl. No. 684,806 Filed Nov. 21, 1967 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Assignee Moore Products Co.

Spring House, Pennsylvania a corporation of Pennsylvania INTERMITTENT FLUID JET APPARATUS 8 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 128/66 Int. Cl A61h 9/00 Field of Search 128/62, 66, 224, 229

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,452,746 7/1969 Shanhouse 128/66 3,480,008 11/1969 Chao 128/66 Primary Examiner-L. W. Trapp Attorney-Zachary T. Wobensmith, 2nd

ABSTRACT: Intermittent fluid jet apparatus for hydrotherapeutic and other uses in which a liquid stream is alternately delivered by a fluid oscillator to a handpiece having a passageway with a terminal nozzle and to a discharge passageway, the discharge passageway having a good acceptance to aid in aspirating' the handpiece passageway so that the nozzle provides enhanced impulses.

Patented Nov. 24, 1970 m1 VN 70!? ROBERT a. ADAMS 5 w T W) A TTORNEY INTERMITTENT FLUID .IET APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to apparatus for providing intermittent or pulsating liquid jets for therapeutic and for other uses.

2. Description of the prior Art It has heretofore been proposed to provide hydrotherapeutic apparatus in which a liquid jet is caused to impinge upon a selected part of the body such as the face, or the teeth and gums.

Hatcher, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 1,466,474, shows mouth cleansing apparatus with a pressure chamber for utilizing available water pressure and a handpiece together with a piston valve for effecting interrupted delivery ofa liquid jet.

Ginsburg, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,888,120, shows an electric motor driven pump-to provide an intermittent or spasmodic jet impact.

Fortin, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,563, shows a hydromassage device in which a pulsating intermittent stream is delivered, the pulsating effect being obtained by the use of a built in rotor.

Mattingly, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,158, shows an electric motor operated pumping apparatus for providing an intermittent jet.

The apparatus heretofore proposed by Ginsburg and Mattingly equipped with electric motors and their cords have definite shock hazards, particularly if used as expectedclose to a grounded sink or basin. Many of the prior devices including those ofGinsburg and Hatcher are bulky and cumbersome and subject to wear of moving parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention toprovide apparatus for delivering and directing intermittent liquid jets for therapeutic and other uses which is simple in construction free from likelihood of electrical shock hazards, light in weight, free from moving parts subject to wear and which will operate at the desired frequency ofjet delivery.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the character aforesaid which can be attacked to and operated by the domestic water supply available in the home at any sink or basin.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide app aratus of the character aforesaid which can be constructed of inert and noncorrosive synthetic plastic materials so that it is free from problems of maintenance because of rusting or the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the character aforesaid in which momentary impulses are obtained of higher value than the supply pressure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the character aforesaid in which the frequency of impulses can be readily varied, if desired.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of apparatus in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 isa sectional view taken approximately on the line 2-2 of F IG. 1.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that vane-us modifications and changes can be made in the structure closed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several V1WS.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings a liquid 1 oscillator utilizing the principles of pure fluid amplification, is provided having a liquid supply connection 11 such as a flexible pipe, to be connected to a faucet or the like (not shown) of a conventional household water supply system.

The oscillator 10 has one outlet passageway 12 serving as an exhaust vent to discharge liquid and another outlet passageway 14.

Associated with the oscillator a fluid delivery housing 15 is provided with. a. passageway 16 communicating with the passageway 12 and a passageway 17 connecting with the passageway 14. The passageway 16 also serves as a vent.

The passageway 17 is connected by a flexible hose or pipe 19 to a hand applicator 20.

The oscillator 10 can be of any desired construction,

without moving parts, and preferably comprises a housing of sandwich construction with an upper cover plate 22, an intermediate assembly 23 having an interior configuration herein described, a cross over plate 241, and a lower cover plate 25, secured together in any desired manner to provide a leak proof construction.

The intermediate assembly 23 preferably has a liquid inlet 26, connected to the liquid supply connection 11.

The inlet 26 is in communication with a nozzle 27 in the intermediate assembly 23 which communicates with a fluid interaction chamber 28. The chamber 28, downstream of the nozzle 27, has opposite control ports 29 and 30 which extend to connections'3l and 32 and are interconnected by a length of tubing 33. The dimensions of the tubing 33 may be varied, the length of tubing, and the attendant impedance effect thereof determining together with the supply pressure, the frequency of oscillation, as hereinafter pointed out.

The chamber 28 has one side wall 34 diverging from the nozzle 27 and offset outwardly with respect thereof, while the other side wall 35 has its upstream and end substantially in alignment with the corresponding side margin of the nozzle 27.

The side walls 34 and 35 have opposite parallel wall portions 36 and 37 and transverse wall portions 38 and 39 with an outlet opening 40 therebetween coaxial with the nozzle 27 and preferably of the same transverse dimension as the nozzle 27. The offsetting of the wall 34 provides asymmetry with a tendency of the jet from the nozzle 27 to lock onto the wall 35.

The assembly 23 beyond the outlet opening 40 has short parallel walls 41 with flaring walls 42 and 43 therebeyond. The cross over plate 24 is provided with a cut out 44 to prevent downstream variations from influencing the direction of discharge from the outlet opening 40. The action' of the cross over passageways such as the cut out 44 is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,466, to Adams and Moore.

Downstream of the cut out 44 a divider 45 is provided which provides inner boundary walls of the passageways l2 and 14.

The vent passageways 12 and 16 are shaped to have a good acceptance of fluid so that they may also aid in aspirating fluid including air from the passageways 14 and 17.

The hand applicator 20, to which the flexible pipe 19 extends from the passageway 17, is preferably relatively rigid and has an interior passageway 48 which is substantially equal in diameter to the interior diameter of the tube 19. A terminal passageway or nozzle 419 is in communication with the passageway 48 and is of reduced internal diameter. In a specific embodiment the passageway 48 has an internal diameter of 0.156 inches and the nozzle an internal diameter of the order of 0.037 inches, the transition being abrupt. The nozzle 49 could be in axial alignment with the passageway 43 but it is preferred that the end 50 in which the nozzle 49 is disposed be at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the passageway 48.

The mode of operation will now be pointed out.

that 'it follows the walls control port 29 but the new flow path of the port 29 than atthe control port 'pipe 33, causing it to turnaround and then move clockwise in effective for causing a switching to the positions forth in the chamber r v ticns previously described. Variation in the frequency can be I 44 and by utilizing asymmetry of the Water is supplied through the liquid supply connection 11 and the inlet 26 to the nozzle 27 The nozzle 27 provides a liquid jet which is'directed into the fluid interaction chamber If the jet from the nozzle 27 is assumed to follow the side walls 34 and 36 and leavesthe chamber 28 through the outlet opening 40, liquid will pass to and through the vent passageways 12 and 16, for discharge. The flow of the liquid in this manner results in a higherpressure at the control port than at the control port 29. The flow in the connecting tubing 33 is thus counterclockwise toward the control port 29 and the flow at that port tends to push the, jet from the nozzle 27 so and 37, exits through the opening and is delivered to the passageway 14 and thence through the passageway 17, and pipe 19 to the passageway 48 and is discharged throu h the delivery nozzle 49. When the jet is first shifted to the walls 35 and 37 there is still flow through the jet through the chamber 28 causes a higher pressure IQEXiSI at the control 30. This slows the flow in the the pipe.33 from the control port 29 to the control port 30. The incrtiaof the liquid in the pipe 33 provides a delay. The clockwise movement of the liquid in the pipe 33 is then first described. I

The switching of the jet from the supply nozzle 27 back and 28 continues as a'repetition'of the operaeffected by changingthe length of the pipe 33 and/or the supply pressure and oscillations can be effected as desired from a few per second to 40 or more per second.

When a symmetrical disposition of the walls, 34 and 35 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the supply nozzle 27 was provided the pulse at the nozzle 49 was found to disappear with drop of the pressure at the supply nozzle 27.

This was corrected by the use of the cross over passageway walls 34 and 35 so that the jet tended to remain a little longer in contact with the walls 35 and 37 before shifting to the opposite side'of the chamber 28.

Upon starting up, air is likely to be present in and must be removed from the pipe 33, connections 31 and 32 and ports 29 and 30 to obtain the properoscillatory action.

If the walls 34 and 35 were symmetrical with respect to the nozzle 27 the'flow conditions would be the same in either direction in the pipe 33 and removal of entrapped air would be difficult. The asymmetry results in the flow favoring the control connection 30 for a longer time and thus aids in removal from the pipe33 of air as well as any stagnant liquid which might have been present from a prior operation.

As previously indicated, the vent passageways 12 and 16 have a good acceptance of fluid and thus provide an aspirating action in the passageways 14 and 17 and the pipe 19 which tn tends to inspirate air through the nozzle 50 and into the passageways48 during the time when the jet from the nozzle 27 is being delivered through the passageways 1'2 and 16.

When the liquid jet is again switched to the passageways 14 and 17, flow in the passageway 48 may start quickly and reach a high value becausev the air in the passageway 48 being forced through the nozzle 49 ahead of the liquid, imposes negligible back pressure on the flow. When the liquid reaches the nozzle 49 the constriction therein in conjunction with the high flow rate produces a momentary high jet velocity issuing from the nozzle 49. The peak velocity can be greater than that which would issue from a nozzle if it were connected directly to the supply at the inlet 26,

A series of intermittent jets is thus made available for delivery through the delivery nozzle 49 against any desired location. y

I claim: 1. Fluid control apparatus for delivering intermittent liquid jets comprising: Y i

a connection to a source of liquid;

a liquid oscillator havinga supply nozzle connected to said source and communicating with a fluid interaction chamber;

said liquid oscillator having a discharge connection and a delivery connection;

said delivery connection having a terminal delivery nozzle for discharging to the atmosphere; b

said liquid oscillatorproviding at said delivery connection a pressure which is alternately above and below atmospheric pressure for drawing air into said terminal delivery nozzle and alternately expelling liquid from said terminal delivery nozzle to the atmospheric; and

the cross section of said terminal delivery nozzle being smaller than that of said delivery connection, such that when the air-liquid interface in said delivery connection reaches said terminal delivery nozzle the flow rate produces a transient high liquidjet velocity issuing from theterrninal delivery nozzle. j a

2. Fluid control apparatus asdefined 'in claim 1 in which the cross section of said terminal delivery-nozzle-is also smaller than that of said supply nozzle.

' 3. Fluid control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which:

said chamber has control ports downstream of said nozzle and said control ports have a fluid connection therebetween to effect oscillation of the jet from said supply nozzle in said chamber; and said chamber has asymmetrical side walls for obtaining a preponderance of flow in one direction in said fluid connection between said control ports.

4. Fluid control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said chamber has not more than one outlet with said discharge and said delivery connections therebeyond.

5. Fluid control apparatus as defined in claim 4 in which an equalizing connection is provided upstream of the entrance to said discharge and said delivery connections.

6. Fluid controlapparatus as defined in claim '1 in which said discharge connection is i f a shape having a better fluid acceptance than that of a said delivery connection.

7. Fluid control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which:

said terminal delivery nozzle and a portion of the fluid delivery connection upstream thereof are in a hand piece;

- and the fluid delivery connection between said hand piece and said oscillator includes a flexibletube.

8. Fluid control apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said terminal delivery nozzle has an area of the order of onesixteenth of the area of the fluid connection upstream thereof. 

